Pom tiddly pom pom

An hour and a half at Goldcliff Point produced (eventually) with a Pom flying overhead and then up-channel into the estuary to kick seven shades of shite out of the Common Gulls; and a Purp flying past in the opposite direction presumably off to roost with the accompanying Dunlin. No Dunlin roost at the pools, a lone Greenshank being the only wader of note. Lots of Black-tailed Godwits at Boat Lane though (including a colour-ringed bird) but the real quality was provided by the wildfowl - Black Swan and Bar-headed Goose!

SEO and the ghost of Bob

What do you do whilst waiting for SEOs to appear at Aust Warth? Why re-enact an iconic image in the life of the mighty Robert Zimmerman, that's what.
What you will need: a copy of Barry Feinstein's pic of the aforementioned Bob from 11th May 1966 (see www.barryfeinsteinphotography.com/photography.htm) and a few willing accomplices.
What to do: find the old Aust Ferry slipway; step through the gaping hole in the fence; briefly admire the Banksy-esque graffiti on the remains of the building on your right (is this an original Banksy?); place two of your accomplices in the approximate positions of Howard Alk and the 1960s vintage limo in the pic (unless of course you have Howard Alk and a 1960s limo to hand); place yourself on the spot once occupied by, arguably, America's foremost singer-songwriter, author, musician, poet, and, of late, disc jockey; and get someone to take a photo; and then hang around and bag an SEO just before dark. It really is that simple.



Thanks go to my dog for playing the role of Mr Alk, Sarah for a passable impersonation of an old limo and my girlfriend for her photography skills.

Fake fudge

The Uskmouth end of the patch has produced yet another aythya hybrid. This one is a peach of a Ferruginous-type Pochard hybrid and looks unerringly like a bird that has been recorded at Slimbridge over the last two winters (see pic below and compare it to http://anserdiary.blogspot.com/2006/10/wwt-slimbridge-sightings-12-october.html and http://anserdiary.blogspot.com/2006/11/ferruginous-x-pochard-hybrid-wwt.html). Other 'notables', which momentarily took the mind off the hordes of dog-walkers, screaming overweight kids and the usual cross-section of Newport freakery, included: 3 Bearded Tits, 1 Brambling, 2 Goldeneye, 12 Siskin, 6 Stonechat, 10 Water Rail and 18 Cetti's Warblers (including 12 singing males). A much quieter Saltmarsh grasslands held 1 Bewick's Swan, 1 Golden Plover, 1 Bar-headed Goose and a possible Greylag x Canada hybrid (it were miles away in the dark).

Real swans

A pre-Xmas tour of the Usk Valley produced 11 Bewick's Swan, all adults as far as I could see, 2007 would not appear to have been the greatest of breeding seasons. Eleven Goldeneye on the river included four displaying males; and a half decent flock of Siskins included a few Redpolls.

Yet more

Another 200+ Brambling, this time up on Cefn Rhyswg; it's starting to get silly isn't it, hardly a vowel in sight. Must be the altitude,... or I've just broken my keyboard.

Once more unto the beech

Had another bash at the Bramblings today, thought I might have a go at recording a few calls. There were probably only half as many knocking around as yesterday with the largest flock (perhaps 100) down by Pen-y-fan. Unfortunately the Manmoel road is a little busier than I'd have liked and, along with the off-road motorbikes, sirens and overhead jets, getting good quality recording was a little tricky. I did manage the following though which, I think you'll agree, captures the unique ambience of the Gwent countryside. For a bit of fun, you might like to see how many species of bird you can hear.

More Brambles

Saw a few hundred Brambling alongside the Oakdale-Manmoel Common road at lunchtime today. The biggest flock was of about 200-250 birds, all a little disappointing given the monumental flocks reported over the last few days.

GPs and Brambles

Back down to the patch today; half a dozen Golden Plover came out of a field just outside the reserve and, despite most of the Chaffinches having buggered off, a couple of Brambling were still feeding in the 'sunflower field'.

Quarley, Shipton Bellinger, Hotel California

Spent the day staring at various bits of Wiltshire and Hampshire awaiting a flypast from a barn door,... never did happen.

Yet more wet and windy

Only got as far as Ynys-y-fro, predictably bugger all of note, thought about impaling myself on the railings but it started to rain so I went home.